January 2009

January 18, 2009

"Two NFL teams are about to gain entry to Super Bowl XLIII (that's 43 for you non-Romans) taking place Feb. 1 in Tampa, where preparations to accommodate the expected massive crowds already are well underway.

I don't mean preparations by the city or NFL. I mean preparations by (coincidentally) the 43 strip clubs that make Tampa the undisputed pole-dancing mecca of America.

Clubs are holding daily auditions for extra dancers, some are touting being open 24 hours during Super Bowl Week, and one is adding a 2,400-square-foot tent for expanded operations.

It's no wonder Tampa sometimes dubiously is called the ``Lap Dance Capital of the World.''

The city has a second, lesser-known nickname: `` Pacman Jones' Idea of Heaven.''

The Cowboys coaching staff, scouts and Jerry Jones are headed to Mobile, Ala. on Monday for the Senior Bowl practices. This also serves as a coaching job fair.

Wade Phillips could be on the hunt for a new defensive coordinator, unless he decides to promote from within. Last year he hooked up with Dave Campo, who told him he was interested in coming back to Dallas and was soon hired as a secondary coach.

The scouts will get a good look at some of the best seniors in the country and they got an up-close look at Tashard Choice in Mobile last year.

January 17, 2009

Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that at least two of the five people who interviewed the five finalists for the St. Louis Rams head coaching position were impressed most with Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier and Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who wound up with the job.

And owner Chip Rosenbloom liked Frazier a little better, but was impressed with Spagnuolo, sources told the Post-Dispatch.

So what was the deal with Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett going to St. Louis on Friday?

Here's what Thomas reported:

"During his finalist interview Wednesday in Los Angeles, Garrett insisted on visiting St. Louis with his wife to get a look at the city and the facility at Rams Park. So how could the Rams say no to Garrett's visit request — particularly because at that time they had yet to interview Spagnuolo? So Garrett got his "tour" of St. Louis and by late Saturday morning he was headed back to Dallas."

ESPN's Chris Mortensen had a different take of how the Rams' hiring went down, according to his sources.

Mortensen reported on SportsCenterthat Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan was the Rams' top choice. Garrett and Spagnuolo were 2A and 2B, and Frazier was behind them. Ryan appears set to fill the Jets opening. The Rams believed that the Chiefs were interested in Spagnuolo, so they didn't want to wait until Monday to make their decision. The bottom line, Mortensen said, was choosing a defensive coach over an offensive coach, after having offensive-oriented Mike Martz and Scott Linehan. So the nod went to Spagnuolo, according to Mort's report.

Earlier, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch had reported that as of Friday morning, "it appeared that Leslie Frazier, the Vikings assistant head coach-defensive coordinator, is choice No. 1. But Steve Spagnuolo, the Giants’ defensive coordinator is a strong 1A, interviewed very well, and the team would be enthusiastic about hiring him as well."

Add defensive coordinator Brian Stewart to the upcoming changes next season for the Cowboys. He was fired Friday by the Cowboys. Could this open the door for Dom Capers to come on board with Wade Phillips?

Remember Jerry Jones' comment at the end of the season that the coaching staff was in place? Sure.

First it was special teams coach Bruce Read and now Stewart. No brainer on Read, but this points to Jerry as the one firing Stewart because Phillips was committed to bringing him back. Stewart was never in a good position in Dallas and never got some of the praise when things went well.

Phillips took credit for the play-calling in the second half of the season, when things improved drastically, despite all the players saying nothing had changed with the overall structure. No question the defense improved with Wade more active and it was always his game plan/calls that Stewart was following.

Not sure there is a coach at Valley Ranch that feels safe about his job right now.

And now Jon Gruden in on the street after getting fired Friday. What do you think about him replacing Wade as head coach? Wade might be nervous, especially if Jason Garrett bolts for the St. Louis Rams job.

It is beginning to look increasingly like the Dallas Cowboys will call their new flagship radio station 105.3 FM The Fan, according to a few sources.

Cowboys games over the past few seasons have been carried by 1310 AM The Ticket and 93.3 FM The Bone.

It is extremely unlikely, however, that a switch to another station would mean that the broadcast tandem of long-time play-by-play man Brad Sham and color analyst Babe Laufenberg would not be calling the games.

With The Fan new to the market as an all-sports station, it has been trying to find an anchor to build up its name. Adding the Cowboys would do that, and bring instant listernship.

Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett lost out on the head coaching job in Denver to young Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. In Detroit, the Lions went defense over offense hiring Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz on Thursday.

Garrett may soon lose out on the St. Louis job to another defensive mind. Garrett, however, remains one of four finalists for the position after Rams interim coach Jim Haslett was dropped on Thursday. And he would seem to be in good position considering St. Louis GM Billy Devaney was running the interviews in Atlanta last year and wanted Garrett.

But according to reports, Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier and Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo are the top candidates in St. Louis.

January 15, 2009

Here's some of the best stuff from Patrick Crayton's interview this morning on SportsCenter:

Q: What was the chemistry like in the locker room?

A: “The chemistry was just fine. I think you’re going to always have a few disagreements. When you are playing the game of football you have that at every level. Every player on that team is not going to always agree or disagree with a person at one moment. I think we all know the one goal and that’s to come together and win games.

Q: Would you say there are arguments in your locker room?

A: “No, not even that. At that’s just kind of strange. Yet again we have another unnamed source coming from Mr. Ed Werder. Still trying to figure out if we could get the FBI involved to plant bugs along Valley Ranch so we could find out who the mole and who the source is so we can nip this in the bud. If this wasn’t a player that stated these problems then it’s no one that’s even in the locker room, so how’s this even being said.”

Q: What was Owens’ relationship with the coaches by the end of the season?

A: “By the end of the season, I would say, maybe a little rocky. Because I think sometimes when you sit down and you have man-to-man talks…I know Terrell is one of those guys he’s not going to bite his tongue and if you’re not going to be straight forward with him it’s not going to be a respect there, so if you’re not going to shoot him straight forward, when he’s shooting you straight forward and being honest. …If you’re not going to be straight forwardthen you are going to lose some respect there.”

Q: Does Owens respect Garrett?

A: “I think he respects him to a degree. You would really have to ask him how much he really respects him. I’m not sure if he respects him totally because of some of the comments and some of the things that happened throughout the season.

Q: Could you see them working together in the coming years?

A: “I think you could definitely see them working together. But like I said, that’s going to have to be a man-to-man, sit-down talk. It’s going to have to be no sugar coating, everything has to be laid out on the line. You can’t be afraid to hurt somebody’s feeling because it’s going to have to be said in order for us to move on and be back to the form we had in 2007 when we were 13-3 and were on the brink of making history again. …We had all the talent, but we didn’t have that one thing we need to get over the hump and that was some togetherness.”